Finished 39-1 and ranked #1 overall with a 91 OVR team, falling in the Final Four to close out the year. On the recruiting trail, we're set to lose out on 5-star SG Dale Doss, but Lang, Packevicius, and Lindeman are all still in play as we work to fill out the class. Excited to see how the offseason shapes up.
It's done. UMES completed the improbable run and cut down the nets as National Champions, an 8-seed, small-school program that started at a 59 overall and clawed its way to the top of college basketball. The Hawks opened with a 58–46 win over Florida, then survived #1 Wake Forest 73–71 in an instant classic, before catching fire, dismantling Siena 106–52, taking down Georgetown 85–73, blowing past Louisville 94–65, and capping it off with a 109–85 statement over Syracuse to win it all. The future looks just as bright, too. UMES landed the #9 recruiting class in the country, proof the program's success is now attracting the talent to stay on top.
FAMU went 0-26 overall and 0-18 in conference. Their leading scorer averaged 5.5 PPG for the season, which is wild for a team's best player. Worst shooter hit only .310 FG%, three different guys were automatic fouls (all under 54% FT), and Douthit was foul prone (3.4 FPG) on top of turning it over 2.7 times a game. Tough season for the Rattlers.
Season's rolling for the Hawks right now. We're 9-3 on the year and just ran the table against some serious competition, going 4-0 against Top 25 teams this season after wins over Wake Forest, Ohio State, Louisville, and Georgetown.
The Wake Forest game came down to Cartier Ball catching fire for 26 points on 10-18 shooting, with Payne adding 17 to get us the W. Then we went into Columbus and beat the sleeves off Ohio State, 94-68, behind a dominant performance from Wiley Cage, who dropped 35 points on 16-22 shooting plus 13 rebounds, just bullying the Buckeyes frontline including Kosta Koufos. Against Louisville it was Gabler running the show with 16 points and 7 assists in a balanced 82-73 win, and we closed out the ranked run against Georgetown 82-77 with Gabler going for 16 again, a perfect 12-12 from the line, and 8 assists.
Individually, Herbert Payne is a problem. He's the reigning Best Overall Player, Best Pro Prospect, and Best Defender in the MEAC as a sophomore, sitting at an 80 overall. Gabler has been one of the nation's best floor generals, leading the conference at 6.9 APG and picking up Best Playmaker honors, and Douglas has been turning heads as our top freshman in the league.
Meet the 2009-10 UMES Hawks. We enter Year 3 as an 81 overall team with the #16 recruiting class in the nation. The biggest addition is Jud Gabler, who takes over at point guard, and it’s the first time this program has had a true floor general. Herbert Payne joins as our starting PF, an 80 overall with NBA-caliber talent. Cartier Ball adds shooting depth as a knockdown threat from the perimeter. Off the bench, Jake Ball is developing into a Swiss Army knife at small forward, and Dannorriss Douglas backs up the five.
Wild scenario brewing in my current Legacy Mode. If both UMES and VMI take care of business in the Sweet 16, we'd get an Elite 8 matchup nobody saw coming. Two mid-major schools, one trip to the Final Four on the line. Rooting for chaos here. Would love to see either of these programs cut down nets. Anyone else got a Cinderella run going in their own save?